ABOUT ME – MARIA CHRISTINE WATKINS
I’m a young person who wants to get the most out of life.
Life Problem. I have questions about purpose, meaning, happiness, love, being human, death, God, and other life matters; all things I want to figure out before I grow up. What’s the point of wasting my life making the same avoidable mistakes that many others have made? Isn’t it better to try to learn from the experiences of others how to live a meaningful life? At age 50+ most people have lived over half of their lives and have gained valuable life lessons; but there was no easy way for them to share their wisdom with young people like me. I created saveyourtruth.life as a way to solve this problem.
School Problem. What’s more important than learning how to live a meaningful life? School teaches me a lot about math, science and other subjects, but I am never taught how to live a meaningful life. “Guess, check and revise” works well to solve math problems, but life is too short to use the same approach. How can schools claim to get students ready for life if we are never taught how to live meaningful lives? Is education really complete without answers to important life questions? Students want answers. We want to know the truth about life. I created saveyourtruth.life as a way to solve this problem.
Depression Problem. A famous scientist has said “The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.” (From The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.) No good? No evil? No purpose? Is this really true? I love science because of the many good things it brings to life and because it seems like a quest for truth. But if the scientific truth is that life has no purpose, how can we avoid depression? Students want answers. We want to know what makes life worth living. We want to know how to live meaningful lives and not be depressed. I created saveyourtruth.life as a way to solve this problem.
Suffering Problem. I suffer from frequent migraine headaches. In addition to terrible pain, I have nausea, dizziness, blurred vision, exhaustion, brain-fog and other symptoms. For days at a time I’m completely wiped out. Talking, moving, thinking and learning are all challenging. Light from the sun and even the light from my computer can trigger migraines. I have put a lot of effort into trying to fix my migraines: blood tests, allergy tests, MRI brain scans, a super-healthy, restricted diet, and powerful drugs. Nothing has fixed my suffering. Many other people also suffer from health problems. Life seems filled with suffering. When life keeps beating us down, why should we keep getting up? Students want to know what makes life worth living. We want to know how to live meaningful lives and be happy in a world filled with pain and suffering. I created saveyourtruth.life as a way to solve this problem.
Society Problem. Are we supposed to believe in God or not? America’s Declaration of Independence says that our rights come from God. Our Pledge of Allegiance says we are a nation under God. The money we use says we trust in God. People swear oaths in court and for public office saying “So help me God.” Legislative sessions and other government meetings often begin with prayers to God. Elected leaders often ask God to bless America. So, God is very common in American life outside the context of religion. But a lot of very smart people, relying mostly on science, claim that there is no God. Why confuse students with mixed messages? Why not just tell us the truth? What happens to society if we stop believing in a God that our founding document says is the foundation of our rights? Are our rights not in fact unalienable? What happens to the Pledge of Allegiance if we stop believing in God? Will we stop saying the pledge? Is life more meaningful if we live as though there is a God or not? Students want answers. We want to know the truth about life. I created saveyourtruth.life as a way to solve this problem.
COVID Inspiration. I was inspired to create saveyourtruth.life in part by a desire to bring something good out of the tragedy of the COVID pandemic. Each day that I hear about people dying I don’t only think of precious human lives being lost. I also think of wisdom and life stories being lost. My goal is to make saveyourtruth.life a place where any human can save their life stories and life lessons. I want to affirm that each life matters by making their names and their truth be remembered forever.
Cancer Inspiration. I have lost two grandmothers to cancer. Both died way too young, but they lived very different lives. One was rich, one was poor. One was white, one was black. One relied on science hoping for a cure, the other relied mostly on prayer. Cancer did not discriminate between my grandmothers: it didn’t care about wealth; it didn’t care about race; and it didn’t care about religion. Cancer stole them from me before I had a chance to learn from them. I believe that people who battle cancer may have insights on life that can help young people to live our best lives. My contribution to the fight against cancer is to use saveyourtruth.life to save the life stories and life lessons of anyone who has been touched by this terrible disease.
Alzheimer’s, Dementia & Memory Loss Inspiration. Did you know that even when people are alive, their life stories and wisdom can be lost? I accidentally discovered this truth while trying to get adults at retirement homes to help me with my project. Alzheimer’s and other dementia rob people of their memories. So I feel a great sense of urgency to use saveyourtruth.life to create a culture where physically healthy people age 50+ routinely share their life stories and wisdom while their memories are still good.
October 29, 2020. What makes life worth living? What is the best way to live a meaningful life? How do we avoid depression when science says that life has no purpose? How can we be happy when life is filled with pain and suffering? I created saveyourtruth.life for my 16th birthday in 2020 to solve these problems in life, education and our society. I imagine a world where we don’t waste our lives making the same mistakes others have made; a world where it is a normal part of life for the older generation to share their wisdom with the younger generation; a world where the life lessons learned by older people help younger people to get the most out of life.
Hope you will help.
Thanks,
Maria
If you would like to help, please email me at [email protected] or …
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